London pulls back on decision to reopen polls in light of unionist boycott of Brexit protocol
The UK government has backtracked on its decision to call elections in Northern Ireland as a legal and necessary way amid pressure from union leaders, who are demanding that the Irish protocol be removed from the international Brexit deal. British Territorial Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris considered December 15 to be the date for the repeat of the regional elections in May, which marked the first victory of Republican forces Sinn Fein over the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) in Parliament Building in Stormont (just outside Belfast).
The historic advantage of Irish nationalism has remained in limbo due to the boycott of the DUP to reintegrate itself into the government system in protest against the protocol pact. The Good Friday Agreement, which shaped the peace process and will turn 25 in 2023, regulates the formation of shared rulers between the two communities – unionist and nationalist – and recognizes the veto power of any majority power. The DUP left the Executive in February and maintained the boycott when Sinn Fein removed the symbolic position of Northern Ireland’s Prime Minister in the polls.
The legislation obliges the central government to organize new elections if the regional parties do not form a shared government within six months. “On October 28 at midnight, the duty to call General Assembly elections fell upon me. Under the current rule, I must announce the date within 12 weeks,” Heaton-Harris confirmed, before confirming the abrupt end to an action plan he has promoted since his appointment as Minister of Northern Ireland in September due to the previous and failed President Liz Truus.
Heaton-Harris kept his position under the mandate of Rishi Sunak, who is said to have forced the latest change of course in the management of the controversial British province. The prime minister has supported Brexit since the 2016 referendum and distinguished himself in his previous government as head of the Treasury for his caution in decision-making and caution about measures that could spark a trade war with the EU. In any case, buy time by postponing an election neither side wants to hold in this time of cost of living and political instability.
The new roadmap will be announced in the House of Representatives next week, as the minister promised in Friday’s statement. It has the power to enact emergency legislation that postpones elections while suspending autonomy and restoring control and management of the area to London. The distribution of subsidies to ease the rise in energy bills, in addition to the approval of regional budgets, is distinct from the measures that require urgent action.
Jeffrey Donaldson, leader of the DUP, joined the echo of politicians and leaders expressing satisfaction with the new turn of the central government. He called for a “tough approach” from London and Brussels in the renegotiation of the Northern Ireland protocol, which created a commercial border between the British province and the rest of the United Kingdom to prevent customs controls on the island of Ireland from reopening. would be set.
“There is no solid foundation for Stormont to fully function until the Northern Ireland Protocol is replaced by provisions that Unionists can support,” tweeted the MP and leader of the main Unionist party. Michelle O’Neill, who was called to act as Prime Minister in the wake of the May election, complained about Heaton-Harris’s “indecision” and accused the British government of “prolonging political instability”. Naomi Long, leader of the Alliance, a non-sectarian force that has grown in electoral support in recent years, also called for a “real reform of the institutions” born of the Good Friday Agreement so that “one party cannot everything collapse”.
Experts on European issues agree on clear progress in the negotiations on the Northern Ireland Protocol. They resumed in September and are making progress, currently at a technical level, in seeking solutions to the bureaucracy and inspections introduced by Brexit to trade between Britain and Northern Ireland. Reaching a “negotiated agreement” is a priority for Sunak, the prime minister said in talks with his Irish counterpart, Michael Martin, and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen.
Source: La Verdad
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